theMycon
2009-03-15, 09:52 PM
My exhausted & beaten (all level 10) party is at the end of a tower. Guarding the exit is a creature no-one can ID. We have a great amount of information on him, though. The DM first described it as "Looks like a water elemental, but a little... demonic", He then pointed to a picture of a Balrog that was hanging from the wall "Wait, no, he looks like that, but watery."
From direct DM statement: He's CR 11. His attacks are evil-aligned (and do more damage to good characters). He's large, and has reach (10). He can either see invisibility (NOT blindsight). Gets two attacks per round. He will hit everyone (except possibly me) on anything but a 1.
Inferred: He's an evil outsider (IDing him is either knowledge: The Planes or Knowledge: Arcana.) May or may not be able to move out of a puddle of water he's on (hasn't done so yet)*. Average damage of 25 per attack (he's hit five times, all done between 20 & 30 HP). Has a BAB of at least 13 (Houserule on Tumble to avoid AoO's is 15+BAB, a 27 didn't make it). He has an SR of at least 24 (Most of our usual Debuff routine didn't pass), and at least a decent fort save (the rest of our debuff routine failed). He doesn't mind working with Drow (That who own this tower). Only seems to have 1 AoO per round (has done so when we've provoked 3). Does not resist mirror image in any way (trial & error).
Stuff we have no idea on: DR, Sapience, fast healing, spellcasting, mobility, ranged attacks, whether or not he needs to see.
Hopefully that's enough to ID him. Or, if not, enough to at least get some tactical planning started. Here's what we have to work with:
One Sorc, who probably has his level 5 spell slot(s) still working, and generally chooses debuffs as his spells. And UMD.
His Familiar, an imp who's usually flying, invisible, and carrying a spell-storing dagger.
His Cohort, a dwarf Rogue, who is probably at full strength. TWF & UMD.
One Ranger, who has Evil Outsiders as one of his favored enemies, and a few spells left. He's at 3HP because he found the creature, and it landed 3 attacks before he bolted. Usually our main damage dealer, as his to-hit bonus is 1.5-3x everyone else's, and we run into almost exclusively his favored enemies.
My strangely useful monk (pathfinder version)**, who's got Good & Lawful aligned fists, blindsight 30, and a small variety of bane arrows. Unfortunately, he's at half HP & out of ki/self-activated buffs other than fly.
We "have" a wizard, but he decided to open a door we knew was trapped (note that we have a rogue), and got hit with feeblemind. Fortunately, this door also leads us up behind the monster. We're going to spring for a Limited Wish scroll or Heal casting when we get out, but I don't think we can deal with it now.
Mostly core spell options (Only the ranger & his one Schroedinger's 3rd level spellslot could go non-core). No immediate urgency, but we probably can't sleep. Two openings to the Room of Doom. Lots & lots of potions/wands (so we can probably heal, and I could get my AC up to mid-30's for about a minute), a few scrolls. We may level between sessions and get a few more resources (going to 11).
The tower seems like we've killed everything but it and the unfriendly-but-not-hostile 18th level wizard at the top (She threw a disintegrate as a warning shot, but let us leave.) There's a terrace that I say we should just jump down from (everyone but the rogue can fly or featherfall, and we've all got rope) three floors up, and a portal-trap to the negative energy plane two floors up (that I've already shoved a golem through. I have no idea if that will "kill" him, but he's stuck there.) While escape is the main goal, we're trying to grab the ranger's Animal Companion (inside the fence, but outdoors) and one particularly nice slave (not locked up, one or two room detour through not-particularly-guarded area).
In brief, the opening tried first is a staircast around The Monster's puddle, so you'd have to walk through his threatened squares, single file. The back door brings out out about 20' away from him. He can reach up to the ceiling, and is partially covering the portal that takes us out.
Since our Debuffs have universally failed against him, and I don't think I could grapple/Bull Rush/anything him into that -Energy portal, our plans include "full-frontal attack" or "buff the monk's AC to high heaven, have him provoke AoO's, and just run straight into the escape portal ignoring him entirely and hoping he can't follow."
*Yes, this would make the battle pretty easy, but the module hates us. So I assume he can walk through walls if he really wants to.
**I know they're supposed to be "still pretty bad", but he's solo'd 2 CR-above-us enemies today***, and survived a trap to the negative energy plane on his lonesome. This was before he dumped the golem there, and how he figured out it's a bad, bad place and no-one should ever walk through that portal willingly.
***Not as bad of an idea as it sounds. The tower stairs make us go single-file, and he can basically ignore anything that requires a save or a touch attack, and twice everyone else's movement. And mage-slayer/stunning fist/Combat Reflexes/self-enlarging for reach. Greatest Combo Ever.
From direct DM statement: He's CR 11. His attacks are evil-aligned (and do more damage to good characters). He's large, and has reach (10). He can either see invisibility (NOT blindsight). Gets two attacks per round. He will hit everyone (except possibly me) on anything but a 1.
Inferred: He's an evil outsider (IDing him is either knowledge: The Planes or Knowledge: Arcana.) May or may not be able to move out of a puddle of water he's on (hasn't done so yet)*. Average damage of 25 per attack (he's hit five times, all done between 20 & 30 HP). Has a BAB of at least 13 (Houserule on Tumble to avoid AoO's is 15+BAB, a 27 didn't make it). He has an SR of at least 24 (Most of our usual Debuff routine didn't pass), and at least a decent fort save (the rest of our debuff routine failed). He doesn't mind working with Drow (That who own this tower). Only seems to have 1 AoO per round (has done so when we've provoked 3). Does not resist mirror image in any way (trial & error).
Stuff we have no idea on: DR, Sapience, fast healing, spellcasting, mobility, ranged attacks, whether or not he needs to see.
Hopefully that's enough to ID him. Or, if not, enough to at least get some tactical planning started. Here's what we have to work with:
One Sorc, who probably has his level 5 spell slot(s) still working, and generally chooses debuffs as his spells. And UMD.
His Familiar, an imp who's usually flying, invisible, and carrying a spell-storing dagger.
His Cohort, a dwarf Rogue, who is probably at full strength. TWF & UMD.
One Ranger, who has Evil Outsiders as one of his favored enemies, and a few spells left. He's at 3HP because he found the creature, and it landed 3 attacks before he bolted. Usually our main damage dealer, as his to-hit bonus is 1.5-3x everyone else's, and we run into almost exclusively his favored enemies.
My strangely useful monk (pathfinder version)**, who's got Good & Lawful aligned fists, blindsight 30, and a small variety of bane arrows. Unfortunately, he's at half HP & out of ki/self-activated buffs other than fly.
We "have" a wizard, but he decided to open a door we knew was trapped (note that we have a rogue), and got hit with feeblemind. Fortunately, this door also leads us up behind the monster. We're going to spring for a Limited Wish scroll or Heal casting when we get out, but I don't think we can deal with it now.
Mostly core spell options (Only the ranger & his one Schroedinger's 3rd level spellslot could go non-core). No immediate urgency, but we probably can't sleep. Two openings to the Room of Doom. Lots & lots of potions/wands (so we can probably heal, and I could get my AC up to mid-30's for about a minute), a few scrolls. We may level between sessions and get a few more resources (going to 11).
The tower seems like we've killed everything but it and the unfriendly-but-not-hostile 18th level wizard at the top (She threw a disintegrate as a warning shot, but let us leave.) There's a terrace that I say we should just jump down from (everyone but the rogue can fly or featherfall, and we've all got rope) three floors up, and a portal-trap to the negative energy plane two floors up (that I've already shoved a golem through. I have no idea if that will "kill" him, but he's stuck there.) While escape is the main goal, we're trying to grab the ranger's Animal Companion (inside the fence, but outdoors) and one particularly nice slave (not locked up, one or two room detour through not-particularly-guarded area).
In brief, the opening tried first is a staircast around The Monster's puddle, so you'd have to walk through his threatened squares, single file. The back door brings out out about 20' away from him. He can reach up to the ceiling, and is partially covering the portal that takes us out.
Since our Debuffs have universally failed against him, and I don't think I could grapple/Bull Rush/anything him into that -Energy portal, our plans include "full-frontal attack" or "buff the monk's AC to high heaven, have him provoke AoO's, and just run straight into the escape portal ignoring him entirely and hoping he can't follow."
*Yes, this would make the battle pretty easy, but the module hates us. So I assume he can walk through walls if he really wants to.
**I know they're supposed to be "still pretty bad", but he's solo'd 2 CR-above-us enemies today***, and survived a trap to the negative energy plane on his lonesome. This was before he dumped the golem there, and how he figured out it's a bad, bad place and no-one should ever walk through that portal willingly.
***Not as bad of an idea as it sounds. The tower stairs make us go single-file, and he can basically ignore anything that requires a save or a touch attack, and twice everyone else's movement. And mage-slayer/stunning fist/Combat Reflexes/self-enlarging for reach. Greatest Combo Ever.